If you want your children to learn how to: Trust in God’s Sovereignty…You must respond to life’s challenges like you believe that God is Sovereign. (Philippians 4:10-13) Be content and serve God where He has placed them…You must strive to look at life in light of Scripture, remembering you are where you are at, and surrounded by the people we are surrounded by, because God has placed you there. (Ephesians 6:5-8) Communicate with others with an attitude of grace and humility…You must communicate with others with grace and humility, and with the ultimate goal of restoration and helping a brother or sister …
How to get kids to help with Spring Cleaning
There was a day when I imagined that when our children could drive, apply for college, and deposit a pay check, they would help with Spring Cleaning without even being asked. I was deluded. There will never come a time when the woman of the house doesn’t have to get her hands dirty in guiding her family in the care and cooperation of her home. If you want to get your kids to help with Spring Cleaning, you have to throw out your rotten habits and bring in some fresh ones. Kids of every age need moms to encourage, equip, …
Did She Just Say That?
“Satisfy us with your faithful love every morning. Then we can sing with joy and be glad all of our days.” Psalm 90:14 (NIV) When my daughter made a statement one day that didn’t line up to God’s truth, I knew the day had come where outside influences were pressing on her heart and mind and she didn’t know what was true to combat what was false. Instead she was operating on what others were telling her. This generation (those born between 1982 and 2002) has been called the Mosaic generation. Taking bits and pieces from friends, media and their own …
Mean Girls
The words on Facebook glared back at her. “You are so ugly! You are fat, annoying and I hate you!” Lindsay just sat there, staring at the screen, baffled. “What did I say? What did I do?” Maybe this has happened to one of your children, or in some way they’ve faced this same type of painful rejection. Maybe you have felt it yourself. I recently spotted a t-shirt at the mall that read “You’re no one until someone talks about you.” What a sad state of affairs. Growing up in a world where “Mean Girls” and “Gossip Girl” are movie …
When It Isn’t Always Pretty
I’ve stepped away from a few opportunities to write about raising teen and young adult daughters because I felt that I wouldn’t be writing from a position of strength and victory. There are the privileged few that have the “insider track” on what goes on behind the scenes. The prayers from faithful friends that are being prayed over our every day life. We deal with heartache, a heart that is still mending, struggles with singleness, anger, indecisiveness, situations that could be life-threatening. This is what I want to show you…the realness of a MOM; a Mentor Mom. You see, it’s …
I Just Want You! – 5 Tips for Parenting Teens
Being a teen is tough. It’s that limbo place between being a child and being a young adult, and it’s hard to figure out where you belong. You want to be treated as if you’re all grown up, yet you still need a parent’s wisdom. Hormones are changing as quickly as your life and you struggle with finding your way. Being a parent of a teen might just be harder than being a teen. It’s hard for a mom to really know what to do during those pivotal years when they seem so independent but they don’t process life like …
Raising Kids to be Independent Adults: How to LET. THEM. GO. & The M.O.M. Initiative Monday Link Up!
with Karen Ehman My friend Sheila Wray Gregoire asked a great question last week: “When Does Childhood End?” I agree with her premise that one of my duties, as a mom, is to help my kids find their route to independence, maturity, and purpose. So it’s been hard to admit that I was a “smother mother” when my daughter was in high school. I ran interference with my daughter’s teachers so often, she did not learn how to advocate for herself. She didn’t know how to ask, “When can I come make up the quiz I missed yesterday?” or “Why did …
Teen Mom? Here’s a Couple Tips For You
How do you balance tests, friends and a growing belly? With shows like The Secret Life of the American Teenager, and MTV’s Teen Mom, teens are desensitized to the realities of sex. I know I was. It seemed like everyone around me was doing it. And I LOVED my boyfriend, so why not? Nothing prepared me for the realities of motherhood. I would ask my mom questions about the pregnancy and birth but what about afterwards? Most books I’ve seen on the market deal with the emotions and the details during pregnancy. To me the pregnancy was the easiest part, it was after that …
Top 10 Things We’ve Done Right as Parents
Subscribe today for your FREE copy of… FACING YOUR FEARS – 31 STORIES FROM M.O.M. Mid-life isn’t treating Daniel kindly. He’s taking every immature choice of our college-aged kids personally, asking, “What did I do wrong?” Last night I told him, “I need a list of ten things we’ve done right as parents.” “10? As in the fingers on both hands?” he asked incredulously. “I married you. That’s my one.” I insisted he wasn’t getting off so easily with a cop-out, no matter how endearing. And after just a few minutes of brainstorming, he was surprised — …
eBabies + iTeens + YouToo: Kids and Cell Phones – the WHEN and HOW
Subscribe today for your FREE copy of… FACING YOUR FEARS – 31 STORIES FROM M.O.M. eBabies + iTeens + YouToo: Kids and Cell Phones – the WHEN and HOW Re-Viewing WHY Before we discuss the WHEN and HOW, though, I want to touch on one WHY that we didn’t discuss last time: emergencies. Many parents give their children cell phones so they can communicate in the event of a crisis. A few examples of how such proactive planning may not always succeed: When we still lived in southern California, we experienced a strong earthquake. …